awful

[aw-fuhl]

adjective

1. extremely bad; unpleasant; ugly.

   awful paintings; an awful job.

2. inspiring fear; dreadful; terrible.

   an awful noise.

3. solemnly impressive; inspiring awe.

   the awful majesty of alpine peaks.

4. full of awe; reverential.

5. extremely dangerous, risky, injurious, etc..

   That was an awful fall she had. He took an awful chance by driving here so fast.

adverb

1. Informal.,  very; extremely.

   He did an awful good job of painting the barn. It's awful hot in here.

awful

/ ˈɔːfʊl /

adjective

1. very bad; unpleasant

2. archaic,  inspiring reverence or dread

3. archaic,  overcome with awe; reverential

adverb

1. not_standard,  (intensifier)

   an awful cold day

Confusables Note

Although some object to any use of awful or awfully in any sense not connected with a feeling of awe, both have been used in other senses for several centuries. Awful and awfully as adverbial intensifiers— awful ( ly ) hot; awful ( ly ) cold —appear in the early 19th century, following much the same pattern as horribly and dreadfully. As an adverb awful is less formal in tone than awfully. In the sense “inspiring awe or fear” awesome has largely replaced awful.

Other Word Forms

• awfulness noun
• quasi-awful adjective
• quasi-awfully adverb
• unawful adjective
• unawfulness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of awful¹

First recorded in 1200–50; Middle English a(g)heful, aueful; awe + -ful; replacing Old English egefull “dreadful”

Word History and Origins

Origin of awful¹

C13: see _awe , _-ful

Example Sentences

"It was awful… the sound was unlike anything I ever heard," she added.

From BBC

Citing the cases of writer Graham Linehan and a woman who was jailed over a racist tweet, Farage spoke about what he called "the really awful authoritarian situation that the UK has sunk into".

From BBC

My two best mates were awful at driving it!

From BBC

But his solo status is due to a variety of factors, starting with his desperation to atone for his past mistakes — the worst of which exploited his awful father’s conditioning to obey authority.

From Salon

In comedy, you run into different kinds of people — some are great and some are awful.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• appalling 
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• dreadful 
• frightful 
• ghastly 
• gruesome 
• harrowing 
• hideous 
• horrendous 
• horrible 
• horrific 
• horrifying 
• nasty 
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• ugly